John McCain For President!

Senator McCain chatted with Tim Russert on NBC’s Meet The Press this past Sunday. I’ve always kind of liked this guy, but now…wow. This is the only Republican I would ever consider voting for for President of the United States (if Martians had a vote, that is).

The thing with John McCain is, he says what he means, and he means what he says. He’s sincere. Unlike some people. I don’t know, maybe being a prisoner of war does that to you. As McCain himself said:

“…you know what I’ve found out? That every time I’ve done something for what may have been influenced by political reasons, I’ve regretted it. Every time that I’ve done something that I think is right, it’s turned out OK in the end. I’ve got to do what I think is right. And if it offends a certain political constituency, I regret it, but there’s really nothing I can do about it.”

Of course, reading his words isn’t quite the same as hearing them and watching him talk. His sincerity comes through, loud and clear, in person.

A few other quotes from this interview:

Speaking on Guantanamo:

SEN. McCAIN: …Look, even Adolf Eichmann got a trial. I mean, there–we are signatories to numerous agreements on human rights, against torture, universal declaration on human rights, etc. So that means we have to do something with these people. And I hope we can move that process forward very soon.

MR. RUSSERT: Ross Perot, who’s been deeply involved in the prisoner-of-war issue, and you were a prisoner of war, said this the other day: “If, in fact, we are doing things that are improper, that will give our enemy the incentive to be more brutal to any POWs they have from our military.” Do you agree with that?

SEN. McCAIN: Yes, I do. I think that we will not have as high a moral ground the next time we are in a conflict and Americans become–American servicemen and women should fall prey-prisoner–become prisoners of war. And it worries me and it keeps me awake at night. It really does.

I have no doubt whatsoever that it does keep him up nights. As a prisoner of war, John McCain was tortured for a year and was kept in solitary for two years.

On stem cell research:

MR. RUSSERT: Let me turn to another ethical, moral, political issue, stem cell research. In 2000, John McCain and 19 other senators wrote a letter which said “Since 1996 Congress has banned federal funding for `research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed.’ …we support [this law].” You’ve changed your mind.

SEN. McCAIN: Yes, I have.

MR. RUSSERT: Why?

SEN. McCAIN: For a large number of reasons, ranging from getting briefed by very smart people on this issue and including discussing this with Nancy Reagan who, as you know, is a very strong advocate for stem cell research. I want to make it clear that those of us who support this do not believe that it has anything to do with human cloning and all of us are against human cloning. I look forward to the debate. It’s a very complex scientific issue. But for us to throw away opportunities to cure diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s and many others I think would be a mistake. I look forward to the debate. It’s interesting that more than two-thirds of the American people support stem cell research.

And what was most fascinating to me was Senator McCain’s numbers:

MR. RUSSERT: It is interesting. The Washington Post put up these numbers. Hillary Clinton has an 81 percent approval among Dems; 55 percent approval amongst Independents; 20 with the GOP. You have a 59 percent approval with Democrats; 59 with Independents; and just 56 with Republicans.

My theory on why this is?

Republicans in general tend to be far less open-minded than Democrats or Independents. They’re mostly fundamentalists who are not in the habit of thinking for themselves. Instead they tend to wrap themselves in the flag and toe the party line, instead of putting honest thought into issues as Senator McCain obviously has done.

I would have voted for him last time around, in 2000, but his own party shot him down with slander, libel, and the usual Rove-concocted dirty tricks in favor of Smirk, who was much more amenable to what the neocon right wanted. They knew they couldn’t get anywhere with McCain because he DOES have courage, maturity, integrity and honor, while Smirk has repeatedly demonstrated throughout his life that such words are irrelevant & meaningless to him. The problem with the current GOP incarnation is they don’t want a moderate in office; they’re now determined to get – and keep – another hard-right neocon (or whatever Bush is; I still don’t think he’s a Republican), even at the expense of destroying their own best party members. Sicko thinking, but typical. How can anyone trust the country to a party that goes after one of their own, with a sterling record on all fronts, in favor of an overprivileged Yalie party boy deserter, congenital liar, & failure?

Bad news for you Nancy, the ‘smirk’ as you call him IS a GOP moderate. He may be liberal on a different set of issues than McCain, but he’s far left of many in the party, particularly Neocons to whom he made himself acceptable by basically distorting and misrepresenting his own beliefs pretty substantially.

Nope. It’s McCain or bust for me. And, for the record, if Governor Romney of Massachusetts is nominated by the GOP, I’ll bust my ass for Hillary Clinton.

Nancy

Smirk is a moderate…so you’ve told me before, Dave, but that only backfires, in a way, because if he would betray his own convictions and sell out to those reich-wing maniacs for 30 pieces of silver plus the white house, it just goes to show he doesn’t have any convictions worth voting for. Romney! God forbid. Surely the GOP can come up with something better…but then, they passed over several good people in 2000 for Smirk, which says it all: more concerned to have a sellout puppet they could manipulate than someone who might actually stand up and be counted on his/her own.

I dunno I like the idea of Clinton for Pres, either. I like her very much, but I’m not sure for Pres. I think she’s as divisive in her way as Smirk has been, and that’s not a good thing. We need someone everyone can live with, who doesn’t go out to gratuitously enrage and insult the opposition, because s/he can, as Smirk does. We need someone who can compromise a little now & then, instead of this ‘my way or the highway’ in-your-face attitude of Smirk’s.

I sure wish Colin Powell’s wife would let him run…. Maybe we could draft HER?

Nancy

Huccome the thead is suddenly posting in bold print, or is this just my computer screen?

PseudoErsatz

Martian, regarding your ‘Open minded comment”. An open mind is like an open mouth; it only facilitates nourishment when it closes on something solid. McCain is all whipped topping, cotton candy and soft drinks.

McCain’s integrity is understandably very strong and definitive related to prisoner abuse. As someone who agrees that the United States should always attain the ‘moral high ground’ as it is called, I agree with this as well. Good intel based on bad methods is unethical. However, McCain loses credibility immediately, when asked about Therapeutic Cloning (stem cell research). Going with the theme that “something good obtained by use of bad is not desired”, why is it that McCain is for Therapeutic Cloning? Medical discoveries based on the creation and destruction of human embryos appears to me to fall in the category of “good obtained by use of bad”. If this is not enough for you, you may want to ask yourself why a country like Germany–with its unfortunate history of eugenics and medical experimentation on its prisoner during World War II–as well as the countries like Canada, Mexico, Norway, and France have all passed laws against Therapeutic Cloning?

McCain’s support of Bush in 2004 concerned me as well, noisy. But I think he was looking at the big picture. In order to preserve his moderate Republican base I don’t think he had a choice but to support the President.

Now that George W. Bush is a lame duck, you will see Senator McCain slowly move away from the current White House. He hasn’t lost any integrity in my eyes. In fact, he gained it because he refused to be party to the smear campaign the Bush machinery used against Senator Kerry. I honestly don’t believe that Kerry would have been an effective President and that being the case, the American electorate once again selected the lesser of two evils.

As with the Vatican and the election of Pope Benedict XVI, we need an “interim” President who likely would serve just 4 years and could be free to work to bring this nation back together while finding real solutions to real problems. John McCain would serve this country well by taking this approach.

The global community will be watching America very closely in the 2008 race. I’d dare say that the global community will probably show more interest than the American public. Many Americans will not care what people outside the States think. Well, they should. Like it or not we’ve created a global economy. We are all on one planet and therefore dependent upon each other.

John McCain probably represents the best of what America’s political parties have to offer at this point in our history. We’ve been the laughing stock of Europe and Asia since the Clinton persecutions. They have less respect for us now as a ‘superpower’ than they did when Carter was in office. It’s time for a restoration of trust, ethics and responsible government. Dare I say it, it’s time for John McCain.

Disclaimer: These are my personal views. No political party or committee has solicited me to make these comments.

sorry to disagree Silas…but i lost any hope i had for McCain when he became the Shrub’s bitch…too bad, i do Admire many things about the man

but if he will sell out his Beliefs to be a good little member of the GOP and serve the guy that fucked him with no lube or reach around…

then how quickly will he fuck US over other shit?

Zappa in ’08!

Excelsior!

caswell cooke, Jr

I just think McCain should be the next Prez, and I will do whatever I can for his cause!

Rob

Ditto, it would have been political suicide for him not to back Bush. He lost in the primaries in ’04, I don’t agree with how he lost (Bush helped spread lies about him). He would have come off as a sore loser and he had to be the bigger man, not hard with Bush as the other man. I wish the best of luck to Mccain in ’08, God help us if ANY one else is elected.

SGT Wacker, Erik US Army

This is what I have to say. I joined the National Guard in Arizona in 2002. John McCain I guess you could say was one of my bosses. I always thought Joining the Guard do one weekend a month two weeks a year and get a good trade and serve my Country and State and still be there for my wife. Well I am here to tell you it is not like that at all. I did 14 months in Iraq and then when I returned home I had a 4 month break to be with my family and then I found myself right back in the Mid East for another tour. All in all I am no longer married and I have see my share of war. At the end of the second tour I jumped the fence now I am active Army full time stationed in Germany. I would not trade my experiences for anything. I served my Country and I continue to serve. Bottom line: I would vote for John McCain in a heart beat. He is by far the best choice for our country and he will lead us to better times.

“Republicans in general tend to be far less open-minded than Democrats or Independents. They’re mostly fundamentalists who are not in the habit of thinking for themselves.”

So…Republicans are stupid? And aren’t most people in the military Republicans? Therefore, you’re saying that most people in the military are stupid?

Thank you, John F-ing Kerry…

James Tevis

I wonder how John Mccain would support war veterans as President? Even though he is a veteran and an ex POW, his voting record for veterans leaves much to be desired. On VoteSmart.com, a compilation for the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Mccain scored a dismal 33 on his record (0 to 100) Scale. Most of the Republicans had low scores, Democrats had high scores, many breaking 100. I think the Public and Party should take Mccain’s voting record into account when considering him for President.

James Tevis

I wonder how John Mccain would support war veterans as President? Even though he is a veteran and an ex POW, his voting record for veterans leaves much to be desired. On VoteSmart.com, a compilation for the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Mccain scored a dismal 33 on his record (0 to 100) Scale. Most of the Republicans had low scores, Democrats had high scores, many breaking 100. I think the Public and Party should take Mccain’s voting record into account when considering him for President.

Jonathan Weaver

There is no way I would vote for McCain. He fought against his own party members and more importantly those who voted him in office, on the issue of Immigration reform. He is willing to allow thousands of people to stay here despite the fact they broke the law to get here, he is willing to allow more to come into this Country then what is entering this Country now, he is willing to give Social Security away to illegals and their families even when they live abroad.

He totally ignores his constituents, he is hardheaded he has an anger problem and he is arrogant. No way in this world does he deserve to be President but he does deserve to be fired and I hope that happens in 2008.

go home illegals

McCain is a major loser! He seems to think we should pander to the illegals because his state is full of them. Ive got news for you. I will NOT vote for any republican that does not seal the borders and make the invaders go HOME. His display on the debate tonight was atrocious. Saying that our military is made up by good ol’ mexicans. I bet they speak ENGLISH in the military Mr C. something you seemed to forget when spouting that bilingalism is not a problem. TOM TANCREDO FOR PRESIDENT! We dont need anymore bushcrats in the government that wont stand up for the AMERICAN and the AMERICAN’S RIGHTS. Stop pandering to the damn illegals!!!!

ECW

I lost a great deal of respect for John when he chuckled at the “bitch” comment made by some moron supporter in reference to Hillary Clinton (another woman, no less). He had a chance to take the higher ground and he ignored it. As a Vietnam vet (2 years in country) I lost all respect for him. Too bad John, you screwed up.